Surprisingly,
tea doesn't trend in the media the way coffee or wine does out in Asia, where
the plant is native. But in certain parts of America, especially New York and
San Francisco, tea is being realized as a product with a lot of complexity.
Considerations like terroir, aroma, oxidation, astringency, processing, and
other geeky things about tea are becoming increasingly popular.

For
example, 3-Michelin starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park in New York City has
a tea sommelier who presents a tea-pairing menu.London, arguably the only Western city which
tea is deeply integrated into the culture, has a number of restaurants that are
paying more attention to elaborate tea services as well.

Notably
in Singapore, one-Michelin starred American Steakhouse restaurant, CUT, offers
a range of 22 types of tea, 12 of which are Chinese. Two-Michelin starred
restaurant, Odette, offers a carefully curated selection of teas from various
parts of China, Taiwan, and Japan to accompany Chef Julian Royer's exquisite
modern French menu.

I sought
further tea advice from my longtime friend, Mr. Kenny Leong of
Teatle-Tattle.com—he happens to be the tea expert who consulted on Odette's tea
pairing menu. He served us an elegant fenghuang
dancong tea from Chaozhou in a richly colored bowl-like vessel. It was only
at the end of our tea session that he revealed that the glazed vessel I was
drinking from was a tenmoku, a rare type ofJian ware ceramics that were favored by the ancient Song dynasty
emperors. They're prized and extremely valuable, whereupon I stopped touching
it immediately.

Prized, golden glazed tenmoku vessels

Tea OriginsIt’s the Godfather of sophisticated
beverages

The tea
plant is assumed to be indigenous to southwest China, and consumption began as
early as the second century, where archaeologists have found a jar of tea
leaves in a Han Dynasty tomb.

The
earliest reference to tea-drinking was first found in Sanguozhi (Romance of the
Three Kingdoms) from 264 AD, but it wasn't until the Tang Dynasty that the
tea ceremony was formalized. Consumed by monks to stay mentally alert during
meditation, tea was appreciated for its stimulant and medicinal properties.

During
this dynasty, Lu Yu, a fellow known as the "Sage of Tea", wrote Cha Jing (The Classic of Tea)—scriptures remarking on the importance of water
quality and other measures of tea making—consequently creating the first
official compendium of the cultural pursuit.

Later,
during the Song Dynasty, tea became an artistic and luxury activity, especially
among scholars, nobility, and the wealthy. Tea enjoyed its golden age in China
during this period, and was being exported to other countries such as Korea and
Japan.

"Tea
competitions were all the rage. The ceremony of the day typically involved
breaking off pieces of pressed tea bricks and grinding them into a fine powder.
The ground tea was then sieved and placed in a zhan, with hot water. Then a bamboo whisk was used to whisk the
brew vigorously until a layer of foam formed around the surface," Leong
explains of the Chinese customs. Regarding these foams that were often
decorated, he quips, “Essentially, the Chinese also pioneered the first forms
of what we now call latte art!”

Buddhist
monks who came to study in China, brought the practice of whisking tea back to
Japan, where it has evolved and is very much part of the Japanese tea tradition
today. Through trade on the Silk Road, tea also spread to Arab countries and
Africa.

Tea
eventually became accessible to the common people of China during the Ming and
Qing period, when tea was recognized as a necessity and thus no longer taxable
by the governing houses. Ultimately, loose-leaf steeped tea (baocha) replaced traditional tea bricks
that were previously whipped (mocha) during
preparation—leading us to the form of tea we’re most familiar with today.

Down to a TeaThe difference between Western and
Eastern tea, according to a tea purist

"The
European development of tea in the last 500 years began with the Portuguese
queen," reveals Leong. "Ironically, it was Queen Catherine of
Braganza, wife of King Charles II, who introduced the English aristocracy to
her tea drinking custom of having it served with her meals and snacks.

However,
as popular as afternoon tea has become since, Leong wryly opposes British
methods of steeping. "Usually Chinese teas are quick infusions. Whereas
the English brew it with a large pot and a lot of water for a few minutes, which
is not the best way... and perhaps why they add milk and sugar to their
tea!"

As a tea
classicist, Leong prefers unblended teas that are not augmented with other
things such as flowers or citrus fruits, "It takes away from the chaste
enjoyment of tea; just how you wouldn't add Coca Cola to your wine." An
unblended tea is typically a single variety of tea.

Every
country has its own premium tea varieties, and it's subjective to experts on
which is the finest amongst the first flush (first harvest), where the highest
grade of tea are plucked in early Spring. Arguably, one of the most difficult
teas to make are Oolongs, specifically cliff tea varieties. There's an
intricate process of fermenting and oxidizing the leaves, and if not done
carefully, an entire season's harvest could be spoiled. Oolongs typically
require more work than a green or white tea.

[Listen to the podcast for more details on
how to properly steep teas, what kind of material the kettles should be made
of, and which brands of bottled water are the most suitable for high grade tea]

Mastering Tea

It’s as pretentious as wine
tasting, but not as pompous in practice (at least for now). Perhaps owing to
its intriguing ancient history, complexity, variety, and nutritional
properties.

There
are different schools of thought on how to 'taste' tea, but the simplest is a
sensorial approach.

Color: Good tea should have clarity. The liquor should appear bright and have a certain lively vibrancy. It
shouldn't look dull.

Aroma: Look for aromas that are typical of the tea that you're
drinking. For example, the fenghuang
dancong Mr. Leong and I are drinking this afternoon should and does have
notes of apricots, peaches, tropical fruits, and flowers.

Taste: Tea should be faithful to its variety. A pu-erh should taste like pu-erh. If it doesn't taste like
anything (dull, astringent, tannic, bitter), it's probably best to throw it
out.

Aging Tea

Aging makes the tea softer and mellower, lending a matured
character to the taste and aroma. Pu-erh
is popular for aging, as young pu-erh
can be tannic and astringent, but after ten years, it ripens like a fruit. “The
taste becomes dark and soft, that’s why it is consumed with dim sum,” explains
Leong.

In the Chinese community, it has become trendy to age white
tea.But like wine, tea is a highly
complex issue, and more so. It’s also important to note, that aging doesn’t
necessarily improve the quality of tea (or wine). Our tea expert cautions,
“There’s no point aging a terrible tea, because it won’t get better! Start with
a good product first, and even then, aging won’t necessarily improve it.”

Tea Bags, Iced Tea, and other potentially
blasphemous things

Doth ice in tea offend tea
purists?

If you cut open a tea bag, you’ll
find it is mostly tea ‘dust’, which is the lowest grade of tea leaves you can
possibly have. Whole tea leaves or tea bricks that are broken up and ground up
(different than tea dust) are most ideal. There are tea brands that retail
reasonably good tea in tea bags, such as Dilmah Tea and Singapore founded tea
brand, Gryphon Tea Company. Out of the politeness of a tea drinker, we’ll
refrain from naming some of the tea dusters. [However, you might hear some specifics mentioned in our podcast, along
with more tips on tasting, preparing, and purchasing tea]

How about iced tea—is it blasphemy? No, it isn’t, and thank
goodness. There are ways to cold steep teas. Particularly in tropical countries
or in summer, you can find good quality oolongs or green teas and brew it cold.
The night before you serve cold tea, put the leaves in a glass decanter with
room temperature water—both Leong and I have an appreciation for Volvic water, because of its soft
texture and lack of harsh mineral character. Then cover the decanter with cling
wrap and let it steep overnight or at least 8 hours.

An Ode to Tea

As you may have gathered, there is much knowledge that goes
behind tea—there’s more complexity to it than even wine. At a restaurant, all that
needs to be done is a pulled cork and a bottle being served right in front of
you, to be tasted the wine maker would have intended it. The tea expert, Kenny
Leong divulges, “Whereas the result of tea will depend on the person brewing
it, and whether he or she has all the brewing parameters to a… well, down to a
Tea.”